Developed in partnership with Japan, BepiColumbo is scheduled to launch in August 2013, and will arrive 6 years later. The mission actually consists of two spacecraft: an orbiter for planetary studies, and another for magnetospheric studies.
The Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) will be developed by ESA, while the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO) will be created by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). A single vehicle will carry both to Mercury.
After their scientific missions wrap up, the two spacecraft will provide the most detailed study of Mercury ever performed.
Original Source: ESA News Release
Last November, NASA's Lucy mission conducted a flyby of the asteroid Dinkinish, one of the…
Steven Hawking famously calculated that black holes should evaporate, converting into particles and energy over…
NASA has given the go-ahead for SpaceX to work out a plan to adapt its…
The JWST is astronomers' best tool for probing exoplanet atmospheres. Its capable instruments can dissect…
First light for the Vera Rubin Observatory (VRO) is quickly approaching and the telescope is…
A beautiful nebula in the southern hemisphere with a binary star at it's center seems…